> we should instead be doing is figuring out how to regulate and prosecute some of the many awful abuses and injustices in society

There's nothing to figure out. We know what the abuses are and we know how they can be fixed. Its just that the abusers are in control of the system and will prevent any attempt lesson that power. If you know of way that can be overcome, let us know.

Historically the answer has been violence. Just ask czar Nicholas, or Louis XVI. The sad thing is that we as Americans have forgotten what freedom actually is, and what it actually means. It's been conflated with doing whatever you want. People have been tricked into handing over power to "fix" things when in reality we've had the power to do so all along. It's getting to the point now where we've let two monolithic parties completely corner all political power, and it will be very hard to wrench it away again. Once the Democratic levers are fatally weakened there is no other route bit violence left. Americans have just sleep-walked their culture to this point.

Historically, life became even worse after the violence. In some countries it did eventually improve after decades of more violence, in other countries it lead to very long periods of totalitarianism.

So, be careful what you wish for! With advanced surveillance tools of today and the resources to add more, a totalitarian regime would be PERMENANT.

In our own little corner of HN, maybe we can stop celebrating and enabling greed and sociopathy.

For example, imagine if OpenAI had hired a bunch of principled people who were aligned with their ostensible charter. Instead, when it came down to actions rather than words, it looked like almost every employee would rather have a monetary bonus.

> In our own little corner of HN, maybe we can stop celebrating and enabling greed and sociopathy.

It's oxymoronic though, as much as I agree with you this corner of the internet is first and foremost brought by an accelerator which celebrates greed and sociopathy above all.